Saturday, May 4, 2013

Since watching all the MKR dessert rounds, I've been craving the richness of Bourke Street Bakery's ginger brulee tart. BSB's ginger brulee tarts is definitely one of my favourite tarts around, with it's rich creamy brulee filling that's slightly spiced up with a hint of ginger. The tart itself is buttery and crumbly, which makes the drive and mad find for parking in Surry Hills totally worth it. The service is quick and efficient, though not so patient for those who require the extra minute to decide. There's a few scattered tables inside and outside the cafe, so grab a coffee and eat a pastry (or two) before you hit the road with the takeaway items.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Papparich is a popular Malaysian restaurant chain that originated from Malaysia (has 70 outlets in Malaysia) and has in recent years opened 5 outlets in Melbourne. Having tried Papparich in Melbourne last year, I was excited to hear that earlier this week Papparich opened their first Sydney chain in Chatswood. M and I had originally planned to go last night (Friday) but when we arrived at 6.30pm the line had an estimated wait time of around 90 minutes so we chose to go to korean barbeque at Goldmart. Tonight we went at 5pm and were seated straight away.

The interior is well planned and spaced out, with plenty of walking areas.

Pappa special Nasi Goreng with Fried chicken ($14.90)

The nasi goreng (fried rice) is mildly spicy but is utterly delicious! The rice is moist and flavoursome, and comes with a generous serve of sambal on the side for those who like their food spicier. The rice is served with a side of fried chicken (crispy on the outside and tender on the inside), fried egg, cucumber slices and a pappadum.

Pappa Wat Tan Hor ($12.90)

While all 3 dishes from the night were great, this was the highlight for me. The wok-fried combination flat noodles were flavoursome and generously covered with a thick glutinous egg gravy. The portion size is also generous and perfect for serving.

Roti Canai

The roti canai here is much crispier and slightly thicker and sweeter in comparison to Mamak's roti. However I actually prefer this one as it soaks up the sauces better without losing it's crispiness. At only around $5-6 from memory, the roti serves as a good side dish to accompany the meal (or a meal in itself for the not-so-hungry).

Line at 5.45pm

Decent spacing between the tables

Overall a great addition to the dining scene in Chatswood. Definitely worth a visit for those who like Malaysian food! Will have to come back another time to try the nasi lemak and drinks.

Bally Bakehouse has been around for around 2 years now and has consistently served wonderful fresh flaky pies. They also have a good range of breads and cakes but I have still yet to try them since we can't seem to get past the pies.

Chunky Steak Pie ($5)

One of our favourite pies is the chunky steak pie that includes chunks of tender stewed beef cubes encased in a thick flaky pastry all for the price of $5. If you're ever around the area do stop by for a quick bite (they also serve Campos coffees) or grab a pie for the road.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Carrington provides a wonderfully laid-back pub environment backed with friendly service (albeit a bit slow at times) to a mix of young families, friends and couples in Surry Hills. To top it off, both the food and cocktail lists were extensive and interesting.

Aperolling with the bulls cocktail jug ($30)

A perfect start to the night! Whilst deciding on food, we decided to order a jug of the "Aperolling with the bulls" cocktail that consisted of aperol, pomegranate & cranberry syrup and lemon juice. The cocktail was sweet and refreshing, and provided us with around 6-7 small glasses full.

Bulls tail empanadas ($14)

I've never tried bulls tail so we were keen to try the bulls tail empanadas tapas dish. It was difficult to taste what the bulls tail meat tasted like when it was marinated in a wonderfully mild spicy sauce, but it tasted great - especially when encased the thick chewy empanadas pastry that was still crispy on the outside.

Meatballs ($15)

Salt cod, jamon, soft egg salad ($18)

Prawn & Chorizo sandwich ($18)

Although it appears to be just a sandwich, this was probably one of the best sandwiches I've eaten for a while (and I eat a lot of sandwiches!) and definitely the favourite dish of the night at the Carrington. The sandwich was filled with juicy plump mildly marinated prawn pieces and sliced chorizo pieces, encased within well toasted chewy white bread slices (all thoughtfully cut into quarters for easy sharing). The bravas fries appear to be hand-cut and are all fried to a golden crispiness.

Morcilla stuffed squid ($19)

Paella onigiri with fried calamari ($4.50); Calamari slider ($6)

The Carrington also has a few pintxos menu items, which are small snack items that are typically bite-sized. Although we were already informed by the waitress that we had ordered far too much, we couldn't resist adding a few pintxos items on. From the two we tried, the paella onigiri with fried calamari would definitely be the one that I would order again in the future - the squid-ink infused paella rice was flavoursome and rich and contrasted well with the crispy calamari piece on top of the rice

Easter hot-x bun special dessert

Although we were beyond full by this point, we ordered the easter hot cross bun dessert special as we couldn't resist the sound of fried ice cream encased in a hot cross bun served with a side of churros. The dessert was really rich and I thoroughly enjoyed my first few bites (especially of the fried ice cream) but I had to stop after 2 or 3 mouthfuls. Definitely not one of those desserts to eat when you're full already, but will need to come back once more to try the other interesting-sounding desserts on an emptier stomach.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Last Saturday night we decided to stay local and try one of our local restaurants that we've been eyeing for a while. The Tall Lemongrass is located on the quieter side of Crows Nest (or in other words easier parking!) and has always seemed busy whenever we had previously driven past it. Tonight was no different, and by 7pm the place was full with families and couples.

Complimentary spicy crackers

First impressions count, and we were definitely impressed with the bowl of complimentary spicy crackers that were placed on our table as soon as we were seated.

Curry puffs

The cuffy puffs were also really delicious - perfectly crispy and chewy pastry encased a hot filling of vegetables mixed in curry sauce. I enjoyed how the vegetables weren't all mushed up but instead were still in tiny cube shaped pieces giving the whole puff an extra chewier texture.

Chicken pad thai and massaman beef

The presentation of both the mains were great (especially the egg net over the pad thai) and the portion sizes for both were generous. We found the beef cubes in the massaman beef a little overly chewy and rough but the flavours were rich and intense.

Overall an enjoyable thai meal at a reasonable price without having to cross the bridge. We would definitely return for those curry puffs and spicy crackers!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Last night M and and I had the chance to finally try out Bao Dao Taiwanese Kitchen that had opened up in Chatswood some months ago. The menu was interesting and served up some traditional "home-style" dishes that we were craving.

Braised pork knuckles ($7.70)

One of the dishes that I used to love eating was the braised pork knuckles with bamboo shoots. I always feel conflicted when eating this dish - whether I should follow my mum's advice and eat all the skin of the pork knuckles as the fat would supposedly keep your skin supple and young, or to follow what every doctor would probably advise and limit my saturated fat intake. However the pork knuckles were cooked wonderfully tender tonight, with the sauces soaking through the skin and into the tendons, leaving me with little choice but to eat all 5 or 6 pieces!

Pork belly bun ($4.50)

In comparison to the other dishes, I felt that the pork belly bun was a tad overpriced for what it was. Whilst the pork belly was tender and the coriander dressing did bring a fresh zest to the dish, I felt that the dish was still relatively lacklustre in taste in comparison to the other two dishes.

Pork sauce on rice ($5)

I found out later that Bao Dao typically has one or two specials hanging of the top of the register area, and one of the specials tonight was the pork sauce on rice. Usually priced at $6+, it was going for a bargain of $5. This included a fairly packed bowl full of rice topped with a fragrant and flavoursome stir fry of diced pork pieces stirred through a rich pork sauce.

Overall Bao Dao provided M and I with a relatively cheap and fast meal at Chatswood. We went at around 8.30pm on a Sunday night, and found that the service was fast and efficient (served within 5 minutes of paying).

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